Obama First President To Record Weekly Radio Address On Video

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President-elect Barack Obama spent Friday recording the weekly Democratic radio address on video. His transition team said he will continue to do so when he officially moves into the White House, becoming the first president to have video recordings of the radio address.

"No President-elect or President has ever turned the radio address into a multi-media opportunity before. This is just one of many ways that President-elect Obama will communicate directly with the American people and make the White House and the political process more transparent," Obama transition spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a statement.

Obama's weekly radio addresses will be turned into a youtube video which will be posted on his transition website at www.change.gov. He will "continue to record and make available the Democratic radio addresses on video when he is in the White House."

Last Saturday, he delivered his first weekly address as president-elect. "While we must recognize that we only have one President at a time and that President Bush is the leader of our government, I want to ensure that we hit the ground running on January 20th because we don't have a moment to lose," he said.

"I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. We've taken some major actions to date, and we will need further actions during this transition and subsequent months. Some of those choices will be difficult, but America is a strong and resilient country," he added.

Obama's unprecedented use of technology has been cited by pundits as one of the pillars of his successful campaign. In August, he used e-mail and text to announce that he had chosen Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as his running mate.

His fundraising, which raised a record $639 million in total, relied heavily on online donations. The figure is nearly double the amount raised by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who received in $84million in public funds.

The weekly radio address is a White House tradition begun by former President Ronald Reagan. McCain recorded his own weekly addresses during the campaign, but his speeches captured relatively little media coverage.

AHN's Matthew Borghese contributed to this report.